With all eyes on GST launch, 2017 will turn out to be a historic year for indirect taxes. Recently Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that July 1, 2017 would be a “more realistic date” to roll out GST. No doubt, this will change the whole taxation system and will make the task of estimating and filing taxes much easier. Though there are certain issues between centre and state government over processes and implementation, I hope government will redress such issues in the upcoming union budget.

The government needs to bring in simplification of tax laws. Moreover, the need of the hour is to widen the scope of taxation. We see big corporate houses as prime targets for paying taxes but at the same time we forget that a large number of taxpayers are either evading tax net or not paying appropriate taxes. Contributing to economy is everyone’s responsibility and I think each and every citizen need to be responsible towards paying their taxes.

This year many corporate houses and public in general are very eager to see change in income tax slabs. Many reports suggest that to ease the pain of demonetization, government may revise minimum taxable income to Rs. 4 lakh from current Rs. 2.5 lakh per annum. If union budget come up with any such announcement, it will be cheered by the salaried and self employed class.

In addition to this, we expect the Government to lower the corporate income tax to 28% in the upcoming budget and reduce it further to 25% in coming years as promised by Finance Minister.

Ease of doing business should be the top priority for the GovernmentMr. Abhishek Singh, Director, Manpasand Beverages Ltd

This is an important budget for the country which is likely to have major impact on businesses, common man, and corporate alike. With demonetisation, the Government took a clear and bold step at strengthening India’s economy in the long run, and we hope to see a similar valor in the upcoming budget announcements too. Demonetisation, has brought in a few opportunities particularly in terms of assimilating the informal sector into formal folds, and that needs to be tapped in.

I hope that this year budget will have special sops for the MSME sector as they are not only one of the largest job providers, but also form the backbone of the food processing sector in India. Appropriate tax incentives have to be provided to uplift the dampen spirits of the sector and ensure sustainable growth in the medium term. We also need an atmosphere where consumption is boosted as it will lead to better profitability and efficiency for the food processing industries.

Lastly, I hope that like past year, budget 2017 will continue to be farmer friendly as success of the food processing sector and allied industries depends on the prosperity of the agriculture sector. Rural, infrastructure and skill development through a range of measures and higher allocations will be an important step towards ensuring higher incomes for the farmers and the viability of agri-sector in the long run.

Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, CEO & MD, Hester Biosciences Ltd

Focusing on the primary sector should be the aim of the government and within the primary sector, it should be agriculture. Improvement in agricultural yields could transform the Indian economy to no bounds. It would automatically bridge the gap between rural and urban India, between the poor and the rich in society. Within agriculture, the animal husbandry sector too could play a role. Tangible reforms are necessary in land transfer & ownership laws, giving incentives towards mechanised farming and in genetic animal breeding policies.

Taking the ‘Make In India’ to next level, the government should now focus on ‘Make in Rural India’ campaign considering our Agriculture based economy.

Legitimising every commercial transaction, strengthening tax collection measures and easing out income tax, coupled with e-banking could supplement the growth drivers.

Mr. Deepak Chiripal, CEO, Nandan Denim Ltd

“Special package for textile industry should be considered in the budget.

Textile industry is one of the largest employers in India and contributes about 14% to industrial production, 4% to the GDP and gives direct employment to around 45 million work force. The industry has gone through lot of difficulties post demonetization and needs special attention in the budget.

Introduction of GST, reduction of interest rates in parity with the international money market, tax rationalization measures, and incentives for investments in innovation and infrastructure are few of the many demands from the textile industry for the upcoming budget. It should also address concerns related to skilled workforce, labour law reforms, attracting investments in the textile sector and providing a future road map for the textiles and clothing industry. Incentives should also be considered for training workforce.

Corporate income tax needs to be lowered to 28% in the upcoming budget and lowering it further to 25% in coming years as promised by FM.

The Rs 6,000 crore package announced in 2016 for textiles and apparel sector was a step in the right direction but the industry needs lot of reforms for the revival of the growth.

A major challenge for textile industry is that it is highly capital and labour intensive sector and payback period is quite long which is many a times a big constraint for new investment in the sector. Further the government has set a target to create another 30 million more jobs in the industry over the next three years which is possible only if special incentive schemes for new investment in textile sector are announced.

Thanks to TUFS, India has made strong strides in the fabric manufacturing sector but garmenting has still not been taken up, primarily due to labour laws and it needs special attention for the success of Make in India, an initiative launched by Government of India under leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister of India Government should consider extending TUFS for another five years or so to enable companies to avail maximum benefit.

Exports are another challenge and industry is well below its targets. We want finance minister to introduce measures which can boost our exports as India has the potential to become one of the biggest exporters in the world.

Cotton-based textile goods accounted for almost 90 percent of India's total textile exports of about $40 billion in 2015-16 and if supported well can take the industry to new heights.

The neighboring countries are having duty advantage for exports to the US and EU market on selective basis. Insertion of Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) with US has further increased the challenges for Indian textiles in the long term. Coupled with the recent announcement of the newly elected president of the US, there are fairly good chances for protection of select countries for exports to the US which happens to be the second largest importer of Indian textiles. And therefore, the GoI should accelerate arrangement with EU market economies to provide concessional imports into these territories to maintain competitiveness of the Indian exports. The political disadvantage to India needs be compensated in terms of money through additional benefits for the Industry to survive and grow as the largest employment generator for the national economy.

Industry also needs to upgrade its technology to meet world standards. The industry, especially the micro, small and medium enterprise sector, does not have access to capital to upgrade technology on its own. A fund should be set up for Technology Up-gradation & Innovation and support may be extended to the companies at lower rate of interest. This will help industry in improving quality of output and become more competitive.”

The ceramic industry is facing double whammy of a slowdown in domestic demand and cheap imports from China. We expect finance minister to announce remedial measures which can foster growth in the infrastructure and real estate sector.

GST should be implemented as early as possible. Also affordable housing and infrastructure sectors should be levied at a lower slab in GST at 12% to achieve government target of construction of 60 million homes under government initiative of Housing for All.

In addition we expect government to lower the corporate income tax to 28% in the upcoming budget and lowering it further to 25% in coming years as promised by FM.

To boost exports, we want finance minister to introduce incentives for exports or exempt profit from exports as provisions earlier. Further to safe guard domestic ceramic industry we demand to reinstate anti dumping duty.

For the success MAKE IN INDIA, Government should support and promote domestic ceramic companies by baring Chinese export to very minimal usage.

Government should give special thrust in the budget to rural economy, social sector schemes and infrastructure in addition to increasing basic exemption limit for individual tax payers to Rs. 5 lakh to further boost the domestic growth story.”